THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 6, 1996 TAG: 9610040260
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Sam Martinette
LENGTH: 88 lines
If the New York Deli on Court Street isn't the oldest restaurant around - in operation since 1944 - it's certainly one of the last of the old-time delis, a fact not lost on owner Jeff Cohen.
``With the closing of Mike's and Reisner's in Norfolk, there are very few authentic delis left,'' he says. ``Arty's is still around, but there aren't too many.''
Cohen, 34, took over the business eight years ago that ``Shorty'' and Mary Morowitz started during World War II at High and Green streets and moved to its present location in 1964. Not one to fix something that wasn't broken, he has kept the deli tradition alive, serving such staples as the Reuben sandwich, corned beef, pastrami, tongue, knockwurst and chicken salad.
``Things are better than ever for me, with what's going on downtown with the Portsmouth 2005 plan,'' Cohen said. ``People like Mo Whitlow, Sis Walden and Linda Lamm, and the people at the housing authority, have made a big difference in turning the city around. The Olde Towne name really fits. This area is really like a town, with art galleries, flower shops, churches ... it has that small-town feel.''
It's a feeling reinforced during lunch when Cohen and his staff, some of whom go back over 20 years, seem to know every regular by name.
``Our clientele comes from the court system, from clerks to lawyers, City of Portsmouth officials, people from the shipyard and the Naval Hospital, from Coast Guard headquarters and everyone else in between. It's a real mix,'' he says.
Relatively unchanged from the 1960s, New York Deli offers local history to those who read the walls, from yellowing clips of newspaper profiles of regular customers to old ads for The Famous, the onetime landmark department store now housing the TCC Visual Arts Center.
But customers don't come to read the walls - they come for the food.
``We have no secret recipes here,'' Cohen says. ``It's just old-fashioned deli food, with old-fashioned service. After almost nine years, we've built relationships with our customers that transcend just business, but you have to be good, and you have to be consistent.''
Part of that consistency involves serving sandwiches such as hot or cold corned beef, tongue, ham, or rare roast beef ($3.85); hot pastrami with Swiss ($4.20); pastrami and salami, or corned beef and pastrami ($4.60); knockwurst ($3.10); a kosher hot dog ($2.10); chicken or tuna salad ($3.60).
House favorites include the Reuben (hot corned beef, melted Swiss, sauerkraut and Russian dressing on rye with potato salad, $4.95); Jeffrey's Special (knockwurst, pastrami and melted Swiss, $4.85); and a pastrami Reuben ($4.95). Triple-decker sandwiches include Noah's NY Special (corned beef, tongue, Swiss cheese, lettuce, slaw and Russian dressing, $4.95); the Turkey or Roast Beef Delight (turkey or roast beef with Swiss, lettuce, tomato, slaw and Russian dressing, $4.95) and Harvey's Club Delight (pastrami, turkey, Swiss, lettuce, tomato, slaw and Russian dressing, $4.95).
Platters such as the hot pastrami or knockwurst plate ($4.99), come with two vegetables, and salads include the homemade chicken salad cold plate ($4.45).
You can get bagels ($1.09) with sliced nova and cream cheese ($4.79); soups (a great chicken and rice, beef vegetable, chili and others); breakfast till 11 a.m., such as lox and onions ($4.99), a cheese omelet $2.75), or two eggs with three strips of bacon, hash browns and toast $2.65); even a half-pound burger called the ``Manhattan Monster,'' fresh ground beef, well-done, with Cheddar, fries and a 16-ounce soft drink ($4.95).
One nod to the '90s Jeff Cohen has made is the addition of a ``Lighter Side'' menu, with items such as a turkey sandwich with fat-free mayo and fat-free cheese ($4.25).
``We offer a turkey breast pastrami sandwich with only 2 grams of fat ($4.49) for those trying to watch their fat intake,' he says.
The New York Deli offers meats and salads by the pound and caters parties as well.
Cohen gets his corned beef and pastrami from a New York firm.
``We get the occasional New Yorker who comes in with a snicker,'' he says, ``but by the time they leave they say they feel like they just ate in Manhattan. If you're going to call yourself the New York Deli, you'd better be authentic.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by SAM MARTINETTE
Jeff Cohen, 34, took over the New York Deli eight years ago from
``Shorty'' and Mary Morowitz, who started it during World War II.
Graphic
AT A GLANCE
What: New York Deli
Where: 509 Court St., Portsmouth
Phone: 399-3354; fax, 397-9477
Food: Traditional deli food, beer available
Prices: most items $3-$5
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. Saturday by CNB